Of ghosts and Psychs
by Little-Firestar84
Summary: My name's Erik Delko, I'm a CSI, and a psych; with the help of my late best friend, Tim,I solve crimes, and it seems that even when I'm having a good time in Santa Barbara I can't help but do it. I wonder, am I losing my mind or is it true? R&R,ch2 is up
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: i don't own CSI:MIAMI or Psych, I'm just having fun with them. _

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_MY NAME'S Erik Delko, I'm 35 and I used to be a CSI in miami. I say, "I used to be" because I'm seriously thinking about quitting my job, since, well, I think I'm seriously on the verge of losing my mind…_

"Erik, you know it's not true. I know what you RE thinking, but I swear, it's true. I'm not a fragment of your imagination…"

_I'm sitting on the rocks, in front of the ocean, waiting for the incoming sundown, more depressed than ever, although I've to admit that, when I steal a glance to the figure that's suppose to be sitting next to me, I feel the depression increasing. _

"I know you are not a fragment of my imagination – I whisper to myself – it's just my brain creating new connections."

"After two years? Please, Erik, man, you're not a stupid. You know that, if you're seeing me, it's because I'm here… in a weird way, but I'm really here."

_I clench my teeth and my eyes, taking a big breath, trying to regain control… of the situation, and of my life, too. But, as soon as I open my eyes, I sob, because he Is still here, looking at me, grinning evilly; Tim Speedle, my best friend, dead more than 4 years ago on duty. A couple of years ago, I started seeing him, and, since my doctors told me it was natural, with my "condition" (you see, I took a bullet in my head, but taking it away could mean kill me, so I still have it)and that it was just meant to be temporal, I didn't panic at first. But now, although I've told H (my boss) that Speed and I are no longer in touch, I still see him. This is the reason I felt like a long, long vacation far away from home was necessary, and I thought that Santa Barbara could suit my needs and give me the time to think thinks over. But, well, my vacancy is almost over, and it seems that he doesn't want to listen to any reason._

"C'mon, bud, just because my body is dead doesn't mean that my spirit is as well. – _I turn to look at him, still very, very depressed _– ok, well, you wonna know a thing? You're the one who's not listening to any reason…. I'll walk around. I'll see you when I'll see you."

_I sob again as I look at where he was before, and I see that he is no longer with me. Sometimes I hope that he is real, that Tim is really with me, sometimes I simply assume that my work, all the evil I've seen, all that I've been through, drove me insane at some point in my life, so, when I don't see him, I feel finally free, then, after something like 10 seconds, a total jerk for having refuse my once best friend turned ghost. The fact is, if he is really Tim, and he is really a ghost, why didn't he show up before? Why wait for so many years?_

"'Cause you didn't need me back then. You needed me for that case, you were losing faith in your abilities."

_As I'm walking away, leaving the beach, I see him again, and I smile, especially once he sits in my car without opening the door. Truth is, he is right. I was losing faith in me, I thought that, since I had that damn bullet in my head, I was nothing more than a dead man walking…. But then, Tm showed up, and we started working together, like we used to when he was still alive…_

"Erik, again… I already told you that, although just in spirit, I'm still alive…" _he stops to talk as his voice becomes a scream… have you ever heard about the Banshee, saw them in some kind of TV shows about the supernatural? Well, this is the kind of scream Speed is emitting, as he turns into what I can only define as a ghost-like figure. It happens so quickly that it makes me lose control over the car, and, before I can realize it, we are again on the seaside…._

"Speed, when you see God, say him that I thank him for the airbags… -_ I ménage to say, as I massage the upper part of my body_ _–_ what the hell just happened?" _I turn to look at Speed, but he is no longer with me. I hope he didn't pass away, because it didn't like it was a nice passing away…_

"Son, are you all right? Don't move… you have to wait for the paramedics to check on you before to leave the car!" _turning to look at the voice, coming from my left, I see 3 men standing close to the car: one in his late 50s, two in their first 30s, one with a clear resemblance to the older one, and a black young man, dressed a way too formally for someone who's on the beach….he - or at least his clothes -suddenly remember me of how Speed used to dress when he had to go to the courthouse…_

"I don't need them, really… I'm cool…"

"Cool? Dad, call the ambulance! No one uses the word cool in a conversation like that!" _it seems that I was right, this guy is the son of the older man. _

"Actually, Shawn, they do" _the formally dressed says, arguing with Shawn._

"No, they don't, Gus"

"yes, they do"

"No they don't!"

"yes, they do!"

"If I say they don't, it means they don't!" _Shawn hits Gus on a shoulder, as he does the same, and, then, they start hitting harder each other, fighting like 2 kids in kindergarten_

"Shawn, Gus, enough of this, and come here to help me! If he doesn't want any doctor, we have at least to help him to leave the car! - _as he says so, he helps me to leave the car – _I'm Henry Spence, son, and you? _My head hurts, and I can tell that he sees it, 'cause he gives me n arm, guiding me towards a nice house on the beach._

"I'm… Erik Delko –_ I say as he makes me seat on a sofa; as I give a quick look around, I see a lot of pictures of him with a uniform –_a policeman?"_I casually ask him._

"No, at least, no more. I retired 3 years ago. And you, what do you do for a living, Erik?"

"Miami Dade Police Department, Crime Scene Unit. I'm on holiday, and then… -_ I pause, I can't tell him that I lost control of my car because my ghost friend frightened me! – _I saw a cat on the street, and I wanted to avoid it so badly, and so I ended on the beach..."_ he gives me some ice, and, as I put it on my head, I start to see Speed again, paler than the usual; he is close to me, and it seems that he wants to tell me something, but Shawn's cell rings, interrupting us; the young man leaves the room, and goes into the kitchen._

_"It's the police – speed explains me – they want his help. A girl_ gas been brutally murdered, and a certain detective Lassiter already arrested her boyfriend…"

"But it's not him! _– a girl more or less 25, dark hair and eyes, cuts all over her body, is now at my side; it seems that I'm surrounded by ghosts now… _- I don't remember clearly what happened , but I know it wasn't Brian!" _Great, now it's not just Speed, I feel like the character of that show my ex girlfriend liked so much…what was the title? Ghost Whisperer? Or maybe I'm more the Johnny Boy of the Dead zone, where a man went into com and then gains the power to see the future… maybe I gained the power to see the ghosts, who knows…_

"Detective O'Hara believes Brian, and asked for Shawn's assistance"

"Ok, I get it, but why him? He looks more like a too grown-up kid, not a detective…"

"Finally someone who understands my son! You know, Shawn always had a great sixth sense, and I helped him to develop it since he was a kid, I so wanted him to follow into my footsteps! But you know what he does for a living? He tells people that he is a psych!" _Henry is speaking with me, is assumed he was the one I was talking to, and not Speed.._

"And that chick, O'Hara, asked for him because she seriously thinks he is a psych!"

_As we speak, Shawn comes back in room, and, still standing on his feet, looks at me, evilly._ "Sorry to interrupt your idyllic love, daddy, but Gus and I must go… we have to help the sweet Jules to solve a case!"

"I'm not going anywhere with you, Shawn! In 10 minutes, I must be… somewhere else! And you know it!"

"Oh, yes, I remember… the boring meeting where you where supposed to read that boring study… well, guess what? You don't have to worry about it, I already called your boss – _he tries to make his voice sound girlish –_Mr. Elthman, good morning, I'm nurse Francine, from Mercy. I wanted to let you know that Mr. Guster is here, with us…. I know I'm not supposed to tell you, but he is suffering of a bad case of Ingina Bullosis…"

"At least you didn't tell him that I've some kind of weird sexual disease…"

"I'm not sure, but I think I could have mentioned something like Gonorrhea, too – _he pauses, and brings his hands to his head, closed eyes –_ I'm feeling anger…. You are full of anger! And I sense that… that the girl's spirit is asking for my help!"

"No, Erik, you are the one who can help me…. The only one!"

"Erik, man, listen, you need to do something in order to make sure he finds the real guilty… remember that you're the real psych here, he just fakes it…. We'll help you, but you've to do something with that Shawn guy!"

"I know" _I whisper, frustrated. How the hell is even possible that, as soon as I leave home, I end investigating a murder with the assistance of 2 ghosts, a fake speech and who knows what Gus is?_

"You sure, Erik? I'm glad you're ok with it, because I feel like, together, we'll be able to talk some sense into my son. I'm so glad that you want to help him in solving the case, showing him how important are science and observation, and that he doesn't need to pit on such an act to solve a crime!" _Again, while I was talking with Speed, Henry has thought he was the one I was talking to; better if I start to remember that Speed can do that damn thing I hate so much (being mind-reading) and stop talking to him._

"Seems that you don't have much of a choice, dear friend…"

"I know"

"I knew you could simply agree with me! That's what I call a detective! Now, let's go find my son!"

_Great, really, really, great…._


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: i don't own CSI:MIAMI or Psych, I'm just having fun with them. _

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_AS soon as we reach the crime scene, I know that Shawn will soon join Speed in the realm of the dead ones; no one can imagine how much I hate this man right now. I mean, we just arrived at the crime scene and he acts as he owns the place, and the police procedure…do you think that he follows it? Please! _

_"You could compromise evidences, with your behavior!" once we are in front of Each other, I shout at him, as I feel my anger increasing. He looks at me, with a grin, then, without even considering to give me an answer, he joins the two detectives who called him. They - a man in his first 40s, tall, brown-head, and a nice, young blonde woman, more or less 30, are screaming and arguing about something. _

"Lassie, lassie, Lassie… I can feel that something is wrong… something upsets you…"

"Your presence here is upsetting me, that's what! No one asked of you!" _the man is firing at Shawn with words and looks. You can't imagine how much I already like him. I think we could be friends…_

"Actually, Carlton, I did. He is here under my request. I think he could help us in solving the case…" _It's now blondie turn to speak. Too bad she seems head over heels for the other psych, I thought she was kind of hot… ehy, I'm still human and heterosexual, after all!_

"Sorry man, no dating for you here…" _there's a good thing, and the good thing is that it seems that I've learned my lesson, and, as soon as I hear Speed's voice, I don't answer. You know, I missed him teasing me this way, when he was alive and we worked together, it happened all the time…_

"O'Hara, there's no case to solve, I've already took him! Remember? I was here, you were here with me?"

"He doesn't look like a murderer…"

"Good God, O'Hara, don't be naïve! Just because someone tells you he loves you, it doesn't mean that he can't kill you! – _he says, almost shouting, but, as soon as he sees the expression on her face, he lowers his tone and looks at her, confused, like in panic – _ok, it's not what I meant, it come out really badly… what I meant was that, although he says he loved her, we have, at least, to consider the fact that he could have killed her. The first rule of murders is that.."

"that the guilty, in the majority of the cases, is someone close to the victim, a co-worker, a worker, a relative, someone the victim had a story with, someone the victim had any kind of relation with…"_ I couldn't help it, I had to say it… but what's funny is that I don't realize I spoke at loud until everybody starts to look at me. I feel like someone who has to do a speech, naked, in front of an audience… Speed's fault, again. He always made this sort of questions to me…_

"I don't know who you are, and I don't care, but I know for sure that you're not allowed around my crime scene…" _Carlton comes closer, nearer and nearer, and looks at me like he wants to kill me with the look._

"Relax, lassie. The jerk is just a detective of the police that dad haired to show me how to really solve a crime… _-_ _Shawn grins, laughing in O'Hara's direction_ _–_ like I didn't know it…"

"Looks like Shawn hates you as much as you do him…" If Speed doesn't close his damn mouth, sooner or later I'll say something… can't he wait for us to be alone?

"You… a detective… that one… he doesn't look like a detective…" _as Lassie tells us about his worries about my identity, I answer the man throwing in his hands my shield; he looks at it, analyzing carefully my badge and ID._

"I'm not exactly a detective, I'm a CSI, from the Miami Dade Police Department, if you haven't already seen it…"

"A CSI… I don't know what's worst, if this one or Spencer…"

"does The idiot realize that you are here and are listening to what he is telling?" _I smile under my breath, as I hear Speed complaining about Lassie's behavior. Only God knows how I miss having him around, hanging out with him, looking for girls, complaining about work and H… and I keep smile when Shawn "steals" my audience, beginning his game… to be honest, I'm pretty sure than soon I'll die for laughing… honestly, can someone please tells me how can a normal and mentally sane person believes that he is a real psych? I don't know about the other ones that speak with the deads, but I'm pretty sure that I don't act that way. Seriously, why does he act like Jim Carrey when he played that guy who was possessed by the Mask? Forget the green face and the exaggerate cartoon movements, and you'll get what he looks like. And now I think he is trying to convince us in some ancient language, I think he said something close to Aramaic? _

"Lassie, lassie, she is here! Look! Gina's at your right!"

"Here we go again for the 100th time…" _Lassie starts to look at sky, avoiding Shawn, sarcastic and tired of this whole charade. I have to say, I know he hasn't been too nice with me, but, the more we stay close, the more I like him… by the way, Gina's at Lassie's left, just to point out that Shawn isn't a real psych…_

"Gina says that Mike's innocent, that we all have to look in a whole different direction…"

"That's what I was trying to tell you, Carlton! You see, even Shawn thinks he is innocent!"

"O'Hara, don't to repeat myself, but, stop to be so naïve. The ones who said they love you more than the others, are often the ones who took your life away…- _O'Hara makes again a face, and I think she is on the verge of slapping him right on the face, but she simply stays quiet, and turns her heels in direction of a group of cops she soon joins; I look at Carlton, who seems to mentally slap himself, and runs after her, with a strange expression on his face – _Juliet, please! I didn't mean what I said, it come out wrong!"

"And you say you understand people…. It looks like it's not Shawn the one Juliet is head over heels for, but the old, dear boss Carlton… and it's not just that. She loves him, as does he. They love each other, but are keeping it quiet because it's, you know, against the rules… non-fraternization policy… - _I know what Speed means. I worked with many people who broke up for the same rule, or took it quiet for the same reason, even of someone who left the force for being with the one they loved. I hope they'll have more luck - _what was the second thing I taught you, when you joined the team?"

"Everybody leaves something on the crime scene, and takes something… always." _I spoke at loud, and not for mistake, and, while I speak, I walk close to the group, grinning, resolute, sure of myself._

"I'm sorry, Mr. Obvious, but, what the hell do you mean by that?" _Shawn and me are face-to-face, and he doesn't look like he likes me…_

"Erik look in the rubbish skip around the corner, the murder panicked and left there the weapon…"

"I mean that, maybe – _I say, as I move following Speed's indications_ _–_ maybe the murder panicked, and left the weapon somewhere here, maybe he wanted to throw it away, and instead, he helped us…" _Although I know where the weapon is, I act with nonchalance, like I don't know exactly where to look; just a good 10 minutes later I finally call Carlton to tell him I found something. It's a knife, like Speed told me, a bug one, looks like the ones used by the butchers, and it's extremely heavy._

"I see…. I see that this weapon belongs to a man! – _what a genius, I'm stunned… -_ he left his fingerprints on it… I can see it, I see his image, his hands on it!" _I'm sorry to say that he is right, since, as soon two local CSIs arrive, see that here are two incomplete fingerprints on the blade._

"Erik, Gina says there's the blood of her murderer on the blade, it looks like he cut himself…"

"Often, in this kind of murder, the killer cuts himself with the blade… if you'll be lucky enough, among the other samples, you'll find his blood, too."

"He is right, we need the CSIs to check every single drop of blood…" _Juliet has just joined us again, and , I have to say, after her chat with Carlton, she seems more relaxed… even happy._

"Erik, my old man, it's just up to them now. Let's see how they can do without our help, from now on…"

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	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: i don't own CSI:MIAMI or Psych, I'm just having fun with them. _

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_The next day, Henry calls me at my hotel, asking me to join him at his place. At first, I'm a bit reluctant, I know that it's probably important – or at least, I hope so. At first, he didn't look like the kind of man who wastes his time, but during these two days he acted like… well, let's say that, after he met me, he acted like it was me, his son, and this scares me to death, like the glances that Shawn is sending me… deadly looks… that just make me feel worst than before. Everybody /and with everybody I mean Juliet O'Hara and Gus) keep saying that he is a good person, Henry says he isn't that bad, but I think otherwise. This is the reason I'm glad when Lassie – I mean, Detective Lassiter, I finally found what Lassie stands for – arrives, followed by a smiling Juliet, dressed with a pale pink polo shirt, jeans and tennis shoes (Carlton, instead, he dressed formally like yesterday, but he hasn't on his tie… almost shocking. I'm being sarcastic here, if you hadn't noticed before…)_

"I'm here to tell you that we've been able to find out who killed Gina…" _He stands in Henry's living room, while we are on the sofa, and looks annoyed by this situation. Poor man, I don't blame him…_

"Carlton, c'mon…" _Juliet hits him with the shoulder on the arm, and exchange a weird look._

"it wasn't her boyfriend but a boy obsessed with her." _Now he really is annoyed…. But it's so damn funny! I'm just sorry that Shawn was right…and in fact, he can't help but say it at loud… "Lassie, lassie, Lassie… what did I tell you?"_

_Juliet again looks at him, hitting a little harder this time _"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know you did. In fact, I'm here to… to… to apologize to you, and thank you and Mr. Delko for your help in solving the crime." _He says without conviction, like he really doesn't want to tell us that, it's just when we see Juliet's smile and brilliant eyes that we understand that he is doing it just for her. Seems that someone is in love her, but it's hard to decide if she is more in love than him. Well, the only thing I can say it's that our Shawn here seems a little bit jealous of the situation…_

"Shawn, I just hope that you had understand, thanks to Mr. Delko, what a great gift you have, and how you could be of help in the force… " _Juliet and Carlton have just left, and Henry is doping this thing again….damn, why can't he give at least, to me, a break? I merely know him, and he keeps putting me in the middle!_

"Sure, dad, you know what? You're right! I'll join the police – _I'm already at the door, trying to escape from this madness, when Shawn joins me, pausing from his speech, looking into his father's eyes, the eyes of a father who's finally proud of his son, who's feeling victorious and satisfied – _I'll join the police when Claudia Shiffer will decide to go out with me. So, dad, tell me, do you think that it will happen soon?"

"Shawn, you're unbelievable!" _Henry is shouting, red of rage, and is slamming the door right on our faces – again, I tell you, I don't have anything to do with them, so why the hell do they continue to put me in the middle? Taking a big breath, I moves from the door, and I walk in direction of the car, and when I see that Shawn doesn't leave my side, I'm almost scared. I can't believe that he is mad at me because of his father! I've done nothing!_

"Shawn, is there anything I can do for you?" _I finally ask him; he stops, and gives me a semi-sarcastic expression, indicating them something near to my car_

"nah, Delko, relax, everything's cool, I'm not mad at you because of dad, I'm used to him. It's just that - _he says, as we get closer to the object he indicated before_ _–_ I had to pick my bike…"

"Man, I used to have one just like that, when I was alive… I loved that bike…"

_Once more, I smile, as I think about when my best friend was alive, when I hear Speed complaining about how he can't use it anymore. I laugh under my breath, after all, Speed's always Speed, dead or alive, one with his bike…_

"What's so funny about it?" _Shawn is offended, I can see it, he thinks it's about him I was laughing…_

"My best friend… he used to have one like yours. He never allowed people around it… he liked it to death. When he died on duty, 4 years ago, he left it to me. I still have it parked in my garage, I've never found the force to drive it…"

"As I've already told you, just because I'm dead, it doesn't mean that you can take her!"

As I've made my confession on my dead best friend, both Shawn and I remain in silent fro few minutes, without moving if not for shift the weight from a feet to the other one; biting his lips, sitting on his bike, Shawn is the one who breaks this uncomfortable moment. 

"Dad said you confessed him you're thinking about quitting your job. I just want to tell you that I've met many policemen in my life, and, well, I think you're damn good in your work, you shouldn't think about doing something like that – _he pauses again , looking serious, trying to find a way to ask me the damn question – _how did you know where the knife was?"

_I smirk, as I enter in my car_ "Let's say that I'm a psych" _I tell him, and, man, he is grinning. He knows I know his secret, and he thinks I'm joking, well, he doesn't know my own secret, after all… _

"You should listen to him, you know? It's a bad idea, quitting job…" _I'm sitting in mu car now, and Tim's again on my side. We're alone, and we can speak like he was still… alive. _

"If a certain ghost will stick with me and will provide further help,I could even decide to try to make detective…"

"Suuure…. The ghost patrol, that's nice…" _he sarcastically tells me. _

"Didn't know you knew that comic book[*]…"

"my younger brother used to read their stories. It's you the one who surprises me…wait, no, you definitely look like a comic book nerd…"

_We laugh, and I think about all the times Speed teased me in the past, and I get it. I get that Speed is still teasing me, will always be, 'cause he is still with me… dead didn't divide us, we're still together in solving crimes. Like he says, we are the Ghost Patrol…_

"You know, maybe you could open an agency, something like Shawn's "Psych investigations… I already see how you could introduce yourself to girls… I'm Delko, Erik Delko, and I'm a psych… this is true… welcome to my world…"

_I'm Delko, Erik Delko. I'm a psych, and with the spirit of my best friend, I solve crimes. These are our stories. This is all true. Welcome to our world…._

*a dc comics comic group-

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